Rotary impact or turbine steam-engine



No. eusse.

Patented Mar. 2l, |899. J. M. SEYMOUR, 1R. ROTARY IMPACT 0R TURBINESTEAM ENGINE.

' (Application med mr. 2s, 189s.)

(No Modelf) Il IIIIII 'III 'Il 2 Sheetsv-Sheet I.v

III-Ill. IIII.'J .Il .Il l.

IIIII indd IIIIIIII. I IIIIII. lljl v i W/ TN E SSE S No. 62I,586.Patented Mar. 2l, |899.

J. M. SEYMOUR, Jn.

RUTARY IMPACT 0R TURBINE STEAM ENGINE.

(Appumion fuea maar. 28, 189s.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

NVENTOH ATTORNEY.

O., PNDIO-L/IATHO.. WASHINCTDN, D. C.

UNiTnD STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

JAMES M. SEYMOUR, JR., OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

ROTARY IMPACT OR TURBINE STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 621,586, dated March21, 1899. y Application filed March 28, 1898. Serial No. 675,365. (Nomodel.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, J AMES M. SEYMOUR, Jr. a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Newark, in the county of Hudson, in the State of NewJersey, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in RotaryImpact or Tur# bine Steam-Engines; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description thereof.

Myimproved engine is of that class in which the steam acts in the formof a rapidly-issuing jet arranged to strike against floats in theperiphery of a wheel and the whole suitably incased, so that after thesteam has partially expended its force in impelling the rst wheel it iseducted and led to a second wheel, which is preferably of the samediameter as the first, but having its float wider and the space providedtherefor in the fixed casing correspondingly wider. 'The operation oftransferringhe steam from one casing to another continues, each casingor unit being more capacious than the previous one, and finally the,steam is discharged at a merely nominal pressure.

My floats are set squarely across their respective wheels and arecapable of favorably receiving steam to turn the wheel in one directionor the other. I provide two nozzles in the casing for each wheel andhave devised anv arrangement of valves by which the direction of thesteam is simultaneously changed in all the units when required. Inordinary uses of an engine the going ahead occupies a much largerproportion of the time and of the power than the motion in the oppositedirection. I favor the action in that direction by extending the forwardnozzle inward into the path of the floats and correspondingly recess theperipheries of the floats or blades to allow them to pass, while thenozzle for the reverse motion is not so extended,

, a portion of its efficiency when in reverse motion being sacrificed toavoid its interference with the motion of the steam, and conseqnently ofthe wheel in the go-ahead motion.

My invention allows the engine to be compounded to a high degree with anextremely simple form.

The accompanying dra wings form a part of this specification andrepresent what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

supernumeralS.

it in the position for going ahead, and Fig. 6`

in the position for reverse motion. Fig. 7 is a side elevation showing amodification. Fig. 2a shows a modification in the form of one of thedetails-the floats.

Similar letters of reference indicate colresponding parts in all thefigures where they appear.

A is the fixed support, of cast-iron, certain portions being designatedwhen necessary by I employ a series of wheels and inclosing casings,constituting,with their accompanying parts, the several separate units,which are combined in a series, working the steam in succession througheach to the next. l

B is a shaft, slender and highly finished to adapt it to run lightly andeasily in suitable bearings and stuffing boxes. It extends through inthe axial L'line of the several casings and carries a series of hubs B',so spaced as to lie within the several casings. Each hub B constitutesthe center and firmly connects' with the shaft a disk B2. Except incertain dimensions a description of the first unit will suffice for all.4

At the periphery of the disk is fixed a series of plane floats, eachradial to the shaft. The hub B', disk B2, and series of floats B3 arestiffiy united and constitute the revolving portion of the first unit.

The revolving parts of the several units increase in Width from thefirst to the last. I have shown ten with only a moderate increase in thewidth; but the number of the units may be varied and the 'difference inwidth greatly increased or diminished.

I have the casings for the narrow units at the beginning of the seriesthick, so as 4to give more stiffness to resist the tendency to springapart. The thickness' may be reduced for the lower pressures. Theseveral units are so shown inFigs. 3 and 4. The difference inthethickness makes the difference in the breadth of the working portion ofeach less apparent.

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Each unit comprises two principal castings, the first, A', having lugswhich are bolted firmly to the bed or base A, and the second and morereadily-removable part,A2, attached to A by a series of bolts near theperiphery. Each carries a stuffing-box, which will be again referred tofarther on. Between the several units are well-lubricated bearin gs A3,held firmly on the base A and accurately in line.

It will be noted that the elevated top or platform A of the base has anopening for each engine, so that the casing of the same will occupy anddepend below said platform, the lateral ears A# integral with theperipheral portion of the casting A2, resting on and bolted to theplatform. I By this arrangement the engine can be rmly mounted on asubstantial base and yet set comparatively low. Figs. 3 and 4 indicatehow the base correspondingly receives and supports a plurality of theseengines. The intermediate bearings A3 are also bolted on the base.

One overhung end of the shaft B carries a small and accurately-cutgear-wheel B4, from which the power due to the intensely rapidrevolution of the shaft is transmitted by ordinary reducing-gear (notshown) to drive any machinery to which this efficient and compact formof engine is adapted.

Returning to the description of the first unit, the steam is introducedto the wheel through a tangential nozzle A, which is provided withscrew-threads near its mid-length, by which it is set upright in thepart A', with its upper end enlarged and adapted to be turned by asuitable wrench in inserting and removing it from time to time. Theupper end is inclosed in a considerable chamber a, which receives thesteam through a pipe A5, which will be again referred to farther on. Thelower portion of the chamber a, around the tapering nozzle A4, isdrained by a pipe A, with ordinary provisions, as a cock, for opening itat intervals or setting it a little open during the entire working, withthe effect to insure that the steam allowed to blow down in a strong jetthrough the nozzle A1 is practically freed from water.V around in acapacious annular chamber a3. The discharge end of the nozzle A4 extendsinto this channel. (See Fig. l.) The outer edge of each fioat isrecessed and the whole so proportioned that they avoid contact with thisnozzle, and also leave a considerable passage in which the steamreceived through the nozzle at an intensely high velocity and directedvery effectively against those floats B3 which are immediately adjacentto the nozzle is allowed to travel nearly around, acting on the severalfioats more or less efficiently all the way. A passage a at the highestpoint in the channel a3 provides for the educton. Through this passagethe steam rises into a The fioats B3 travel.I

pipe A7, still retaining'a considerable portion.

of its original boiler-pressure, and -is ready to be similarly inductedinto the next unit, and so on.

C is a three-way cock of sufficient capacity to allow the steam to movethrough with little resistance. It is operated bya lever C', connectedto a longitudinal rod D, which maybe operated either directly or by asuitable lever or wheel. (Not shown.) Vhen the plug of this cock is inone position, (that shown in Fig. 5,) it directs the steam receivedthrough the ed notion-pipe A7from the last-preceding unit, so that it isdelivered through the inductionpipe A5 of the next succeeding unit, andso on. Thus conditioned the shaft is revolved in the opposite (thereverse) direction.

When the rod D is moved endwise, it operates all the stop-cocks C,turning each plug into the position shown in Fig. G, and thus performsthe important operation of reversing the motion of the engine. In thisreversed condition the steam is received from the boiler or from thepreceding unit through the pipe A7, as before; but instead of beingdelivered to the next unit through the ordinary induction-pipe A5 it isdelivered through a supplementary induction-pipe AB. This leads to achamber a2, having a form and ar rangement the vreverse of the chambera. In this chamber a2 I mount a nozzle A9, which may be similar to thenozzle A4, except that it is shorter. The portion of the time in whichan -engine under any ordinary conditions is required to run backward isso small relatively to that in which it runs in the for- Ward directionthat We can afford to use the steam less efficiently and lesseconomically in the backward motion. The nozzle A4 for the going-aheadmotion extends well into the annular chamber a and somewhat into thepath of the floats B3 and by that arrangement increases the efficiencyof the jet in the goahead motion; but if there were a correspondingextension of the other nozzle AD such extension would do harm byinterfering with the flow of the steam as it accompanies and exceeds therapid revolving motion of lthe fioats. The nozzle A is thereforeextended only so far as allows it to terminate completely outside of thechamber a3.

There is one stop-cock C between each unit and the next and also onebetween the first unit and the boiler. When the engine is conditionedfor going ahead, the steam received from the boiler (not shown) throughthe pipe A7 is directed at full pressure into the chamber a of the firstunit, it parts with its water, if it has any, in that chamber, and thedry steam is discharged therefrom, through the nozzle A4, upon thefavorably-presented fioats Thence it flows around faster than the rapidrevolutions of the floats, -and consequently of the shaft B, and escapesthrough the passage a up through the eduction-pipe AT and through thesimilarly-set stop-cock C 0f the second unit, from whence it flowsthrough the induction pipe of the second IOO IIO

unit in the same manner as vit was received from the boiler into thefirst unitand with the same effect, except that it is at a lowerpressure. The increased width of the second unit allows this lowerpressure to be efficient, and the steam after flowing through this unitmoves to the third at a still lower pressure, and so on through theseries.

The ratio of breadth of the several units, several times before referredto, is important. The rate of rotation of the floats Within all arenecessarily uniform, because all are rigidly xed on the same shaft; butthe widths of the units and the capacity of the chambers a3 can be sograduated that the pressure of steam received at a hundred pounds in thefirst unit maybe reduced by uniform steps-- ninety, eighty, seventy,&c.--or it may be reduced by other steps, as eighty, sixty-five,fifty-two and one-half, forty-two, &c., or according to any other ratio.An approximation to the latter rate of reduction may be preferable, soas by giving less difference in pressure in the induction and eductionin the wide terminal units to compensate for the greater area of thefloats therein, and thus to attain an approximately 'uniform strain onthe several disks B2 andhubs B.

It is not important to the success of my engine to maintain close fitsbetween relativelymoving surfaces except the stuffing-boxes around theshaft. These (shown in Fig. 2) are capable of easy adjustment, so-as toarrest the passage of the steam and .make but little friction.

The tubes A10 on the stationary parts A and A2, respectively, areexternally threaded, and each receives an internally-threaded cap E,which latter carries an inner tube E', lying against the shaft,effecting the compression on the packing Gr. An internally-threadedwasher I-I of larger diameter may be applied in the position representedto serve as ya jam.- nut to avoid any possible turning of thenicelyadjusted cap by the friction of the shaft. These portions of thecasting A A*2 which are adjacent to the plane faces of the disk B2 neednot lit tightly. Obviously those surfaces will be more nearly in contactwith the rapidlyrevolving disk within when the steam is shut off and thepressureis down than when they are sprung apart by the full force ofhighpressure steam between them. In any given y unit after the centralspace around the hub til it has traveled some three-fourths of thecircuit and then escapes.

Each annular chamber d3 is lined on its exterior side with a differentmetal, as copper or brass,` smoothly nished and burnished. Theconsiderable space allowed between such surface and the path of thefloats is traversed by the rapidly-moving steam with but very littleresistance, except as it acts on the outer edges of the floats, tousefullyimpel the wheel.

It isea-sy to vary the proportion of the expansion occurring in anygiven unit by simply enlarging the nozzles by which the steam afterpassing through this unit is discharged into the next. Thus if the firstunit receiving the steam from the boiler at a hundred lower pressure andthus utilize more of the force of the steam in this first unit by simplyboring out the interior of the inductionnozzle A4 of the second unit.

My engine utilizes the steam at a lower velocity thanordinary'steam-'engines of its class. lf steam at high pressure isallowed to flow directly into the atmosphere, its velocity is some twoor three thousand feet per second-too high to be utilized by its impactwithout great loss in the gearing, which reduces the velocity. ln myengine it has in entering each unit only a moderate velocity due to thedifference of pressure between the induction and the discharge in thatunit. Thus if in the first unit it is reduced from one hundred pounds toninety it will have a velocity of something like six hundred and sixtyfeet per second and about the same velocity in each of the severalunits. The lower velocity imparted tomy shaft is reduced to practicablespeeds with less loss in the gearward motion to extend well into thepathof the blades, making its action peculiarly eflicient; also that myrolling valves are connected independently to a single operatingrod,because it affords facility for control with easy independent adjustmentor repairs; also to the fact that my series of units or separate enginesare of uniform diameter, but

of successively-increasing width,because this arrangement provides'foran even disposi tion of the ends, bearings, valve-rod connections, &c.

Modications may be made without departing from the principle orsacrificing the ad- IOO IOS

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vantages of the invention. The number of the fioats B3 in some or all'ofthe units may either direction. Parts of the invention may be usedwithout the whole. I can dispense with the provisions by the cavities aand a2 for drying the steam. There may be two or more jets inductingsteam into each unit. Fig. 7 shows such arrangement. They may bedistributed uniformly or otherwise. I have shown them aggregated nearthe main induction-points first shown. I have shown the outer edge ofthe floats as provided with a nearly semicircular notch in itsmid-width. The form of this notch may be varied. It may be foundpreferable to form the whole outer edge of the float with notches, asindicated in Fig. 2a. It will be understood that there are ordinaryprovisions for lubricating and for regulating, dac. The regulation maybe effected by an ordinary throttle-valve controlling the flow from theboiler.

I claim as my inventionl. A rotary impact steam-engine comprising awheel with plane floats free to revolve loosely in a suitably-formedspace in an inclosing casing, the iioats having each a deep notch in itsouter edge and provisions as the gear-wheel B4 and connected parts forcommunicating power, two jet-nozzles A4 and A9,

- arranged to drive the wheel in opposite directions, the jet-nozzle A4which drives it in the forward direction being extended into thenotches, and the jet-nozzle A9 terminating at a point outside of thepath ofthe rotating steam, allsubstantially as herein specified.

2. The combination with a base having the platform provided with aseries of transverse openings adapted to snugly receive a correspondingseries of engine-casings, of a rotary steam-engine for each opening, thecasing of which comprises the castings A', A2, depending below theplatform-opening and having lateral integral ears bolted to theplatform, and a suitable float-Wheel, impellingjet-nozzle Aand exhaust,substantially as herein specified.

3. A rotary impact steam-engine comprising a wheel with plane floatsfree to revolve loosely in a suitably-formed space in an inclosingcasing, the floats having each a deep notch in its outer edge and havingprovisions as the gear-wheel B4 and connected parts for communicatingpower, two jet-nozzles A4 and A9 arranged approximately tangential,adapted to serve alternately to drive the wheel in opposite directions,the jet-nozzle A4 being extended into the float-notches, in combinationwith other wheels set on the same shaft and corresponding casings eachreceiving the steam from the preceding and forming a series in which thesteam impels the wheels with successively-diminished pressure, and withcorresponding three-way cocks C, with provisions for operating theseries from a single operating part as the rod D, controlled by theattendant, all substantially as herein specified.

4. A rotary impact steam-engine comprising a casing, the sides of whichare thick to prevent springing apart and provide the inner enlargementsforming a central hubchamber, liberal float-chamber d3, and narrowconnecting annular passage, a lining material for saidiioat-chamberadapted to maintain a burnished condition, a shaft bearingin the casing sides and carrying a wheel the web of which moves in thenarrow passage and carries at its periphery within the chamber d3 aseries of notched floats, in combination with a steam-supply jet-nozzleextending in the path of the notches, arranged approximatelytangentially for driving the wheel, and suitable steam-exhau st,substantially as set forth.

5. A rotary impact steam-engine comprising a casing the sides of whichare thick to prevent springing apart and provide the inner enlargementsforming a central hubchamber, liberal float-chamber a3, and narrowconnecting` annular passage, a shaft bearing in the casing sides andcarrying a wheel the web of which moves in the narrow passage andcarries at its periphery within the chamber a3 a series of notchedfloats, a steam supply jet nozzle arranged approximately tan gentiallyand extendingin the path of the notches, in combination with otherwheels set on the same shaft and corresponding casings of diminishedthickness, each receiving the steam from the preceding and forming aseries in which the steam impels the wheels with successively-diminishedpressure, and with corresponding three-way cocks C, with provisions foroperating the series from a single operating part as the rod Dcontrolled by the attendant, all substantially as herein specified.

6. A rotary impact steam-engine comprising a series of wheels mounted torotate with a single shaft and each having a series of plane floatsdeeply notched at their edges, said floats being operated by the impactof the steam applied tangentially on each by jetnozzles A4, A9, theformer extending into the,

float-notches, the several units maintaining uniform diameters butsuccessively increasing in breadth and being so connected that the steamshall pass through all in succession, substantially as herein specified.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I afiiX mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

J. M. SEYMOUR, JR.

Witnesses:

J. B. CLAUTICE, M. F. BOYLE.

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